Amazon US & UK have posted the cover art and synopsis of the upcoming novel The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

[UPDATE: South African cover added!]

Which cover do you like better?

Here are the US & UK synopses, also different:

U.S. Synopsis

The Time Traveler’s Wife meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in this story of a time-traveling serial killer who is impossible to trace–until one of his victims survives.

In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.

Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery.

THE SHINING GIRLS is a masterful twist on the classic serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing girl in pursuit of a deadly criminal.

U.K. Synopsis

The girl who wouldn’t die, hunting a killer who shouldn’t exist… A terrifying and original serial-killer thriller from award-winning author, Lauren Beukes.

“It’s not my fault. It’s yours. You shouldn’t shine. You shouldn’t make me do this.”

Chicago 1931. Harper Curtis, a violent drifter, stumbles on a house with a secret as shocking as his own twisted nature – it opens onto other times. He uses it to stalk his carefully chosen ‘shining girls’ through the decades – and cut the spark out of them.

He’s the perfect killer. Unstoppable. Untraceable. He thinks…

Chicago, 1992. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Tell that to Kirby Mazrachi, whose life was shattered after a brutal attempt to murder her. Still struggling to find her attacker, her only ally is Dan, an ex-homicide reporter who covered her case and now might be falling in love with her.

As Kirby investigates, she finds the other girls – the ones who didn’t make it. The evidence is … impossible. But for a girl who should be dead, impossible doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…

I am not overly fond of either one but of the two I prefer the U.S. cover. The U.K. cover looks too much like the bad photoshopped covers you see on some self-published books. The U.S. cover might be better with a different color than the pink/red.

At any rate, while I am interested in trying out the work of Lauren Beukes, I won’t have to worry about picking up either cover because serial killer stories are one thing I don’t find entertaining, in my reading or viewing. Just a personal preference.

TSP On This Day

You may have noticed us mention that friend of SF Signal Kevin Brusky runs his own game company (APEGames) in his spare time. When not delegating the onerous task of shipping stuff out to his various minions, he will browbeat John, myself, and anyone else he can corner into playtesting new games. Currently Kevin is working on a new game Continue Reading →

The New York Times has a profile on Goro Miyazaki, the son of the anime master Hayao Miyazaki, and his upcoming film Tales From Earthsea which based on Ursula K. LeGuin's books. LeGuin is quoted in the artcile, giving her thoughts on the new adaptation:As a teenager Mr. Miyazaki read the "Earthsea" books, and he originally planned to make a Continue Reading →